April/May 2015

This Issue

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More is Better: Winning New Customers with Service, Direct Mail and Digital MediaPlus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

--Alphonse Karr, French critic, journalist & novelist in the mid-1800s

When it comes to attracting new customers, this famous epigram perfectly describes the process. New tools like digital media represent the changes, while the fundamentals of customer service and outreach using direct mail remain the same.

The solid base: customer serviceThe Primary objective of customer service is to keep customers coming back. A satisfied customer has no incentive to look elsewhere for the product or service you provide and, therefore, will return to purchase again. A satisfied customer might also provide a recommendation to others to use your business, or provide a referral to your business.

Truly great customer service is invisible to the customer. It is the framework for all transactions, but is never in the forefront. Your customer places an order and it is fulfilled on time, as ordered, and at the agreed-upon price. This kind of dependability—meeting

Winning New Customers 1-2

Tips & Tricks 3

Q & A 3

The Idea Corner 4

A Vocabulary of the Graphic Arts 4

Standardize Your Color 5

Expand Your Marketing Outreach 6-7

Marketing Automation 8

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David

2 Providing you an edge in print communications. www.visionsfirst.com

customer expectations consistently and quietly—is the ultimate customer service experience; it trumps the occasional above-and-beyond effort needed to solve an unexpected problem or respond to an emergency. If you are great at performing in a crisis but are inconsistent in day-to-day performance, you are not delivering a great customer experience.

Remarkable customer service begins when you enhance quietly-consistent routine performance with extra touches—anticipating the customer’s needs, turning a job around on an impossible deadline, providing a creative solution to a problem. Remarkable customer service creates future business.

Get the word out: tell your story with direct mailOnce you have mastered the basics of remarkable customer service, it is time to get the word out to potential new customers. Especially for businesses without a large marketing budget, direct mail remains a cost effective and easy way to communicate with customers and prospects. Like great customer service, direct mail is a fundamental of attracting new customers.

Here are the reasons why direct mail marketing still works:

• You control the outreach. As a first step in finding new customers, look for businesses or individuals whose demographic profile matches the profile of our best customers. The logic is simple: if the prospects resemble your best customers, it is likely they already have a need for your product or service. Furthermore, if you are providing an excellent customer experience along with the product or service, you have a point of differentiation from your competition that you can talk about.

• You control the message. Direct mail allows you to tell your story in the way you think is most effective—creating suspense, incorporating humor, or appealing to emotion—all effective ways to get prospects to respond.

• There isn’t much competition in the mailbox. These days there is much less competition for a prospect’s attention in the mailbox, especially when compared to the volume of messages delivered via social media.

• Mail is a physical media. The brain responds differently to physical and digital media. According to a 2009 study by research company Millward Brown, physical media like a direct mail piece leaves a “deeper footprint” in the brain, involves more emotional processing, and produces more brain response connected with internal feelings.

• Direct mail can be put aside to read later. According to Epsilon’s 2012 Channel Preference Study, 73% of U.S. consumers and 67% of Canadian consumers indicated they prefer direct mail because they can read the information at their convenience.

Direct mail is effective with both older and younger demographics. The results of a study conducted by ICON (a division of Epsilon Targeting) entitled Finding the Right Channel

Combination: What Drives Channel Choice?, found that people in the 18-34 year old age bracket prefer receiving messages about certain types of products and services in print rather than online. The survey was conducted using 2,500 U.S. and 2,200 Canadian households. It also indicated that consumers of all ages believe information sent via mail is more private than information sent via email.

Use direct mail creatively: add digital mediaYou can magnify the effect of traditional direct mail by adding elements of social media. Here are a few possibilities:

• Direct mail and a website: use a letter, postcard or other mailer to point the target audience to a website—either the company’s main website or a secondary site set up for a specific purpose. At the website, make something of value available—a downloadable white paper, video or slide show about a new product or service—that rewards the customer for his visit.

• Direct mail and video. A video is a good tool for providing instructions, demonstrating something, describing a concept that may be hard to grasp without visual input, or providing testimonials. As with the website example, use the direct mailer to highlight the availability of the video.

• Direct mail and email: Use email to alert customers to the start of a direct mail campaign such as membership renewal, or a “save-the-date” for an upcoming event. Email an image of the mail piece, tell customers when to expect it and what to do when it arrives. If there is a deadline for action, remind customers of the deadline with a follow up email.

• Direct mail and Twitter: Use direct mail to enroll new Twitter followers, then keep them interested with exclusive special deals or offers.

We’re direct mail expertsCall on us to help you integrate digital media marketing with direct mail. We have been providing direct mail services to our customers for over 30 years. We are good at what we do. Foir more information or to set an appointment, call [RepFullName] at [RepPhone].

Q Does the United States Postal Service (USPS) provide guidelines for formatting and positioning the address information on a piece of direct mail?

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To facilitate mail processing by optical character recognition (OCR) mail sorting equipment, the USPS has adopted standards for placement of various address elements on the mail panel, illustrated below:

The name of the recipient must appear in the OCR read area. The dark shaded area indicates free space for non-address printing; the light shaded area is the preferred clear zone for address information only. To eliminate the possibility of the return address being read as the delivery address, position the return address so its total height is no more than 33% of the mail panel height.

If not handled correctly, a customer having a problem may quickly become a problem customer. Problem customers are created when any of the following situations occur:

• The customer’s problem and the urgency of dealing with it are not promptly acknowledged.

• The customer does not sense any empathy from the person attempting to deal with the problem.

• The customer is sent to voicemail or put on hold for long periods of time.• The customer is not given potential solutions to the problem.Avoid creating a problem customer by immediately indicating you understand the customer has a problem. Regardless of your opinion about the problem, empathize with the customer’s perspective. Apologize for the inconvenience the problem has caused. Suggest one or more possible solutions to the problem, or ask the customer to describe his solution. Outline the steps that will be taken to affect a solution and give a timeline for getting them done. Until the problem is resolved, maintain contact with the customer and keep him updated on progress toward a resolution. After the problem is resolved, follow up to be sure the customer is satisfied with the resolution.

For addressing, the USPS recommends using Ariel or

Helvetica fonts and a point size of at least 12. Keep graphics out of the OCR read area and position the return address so it is well above the outbound address.

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Social media has added a new dimension to old-fashioned word-of-mouth advertising. Always an effective method because of the built-in element of trust, word-of-mouth compares favorably to traditional advertising as a way to create new customers. However, the drawback is how long it takes to reach enough people.

Enter social media. Reviews on websites like Amazon and Yelp expands the reach of anyone willing to give a testimonial. Even though you don’t know the reviewer, the tendency is to trust what they say more than an advertising message put out by the business. This is especially true for Millenials who, as a group in general, are suspicious of advertising. Word-of-mouth testimonials on social media are a logical outcome of a great customer experience.

Of course there is a downside to word-of-mouth advertising on social media sites—the business has no control over what is said. Unfortunately, dissatisfied customers are more likely to post negative warnings than satisfied customers are to make recommendations. Distortions and untruths can be difficult to combat, and may cause unfair damage to a business’s brand and reputation.

Social networking site: a website based on interaction by connecting with friends, commenting on profiles, joining groups, and participating in discussions. Example: Facebook, Pinterest.

Social news site: a website based on interaction by voting for articles and commenting on them. Examples: Digg, Reddit.

Social photo and video site: a website based on interaction by sharing photos or videos and commenting on user submission. Example: YouTube, Pinterest.

Social proof: a method for making a decision based on non-rational factors—determining what is correct by finding out what other people think is correct.

Twitter: an instant messaging system for sending brief text messages (up to 140 characters) to a list of followers.

YouTube: a video-sharing website for users to upload, share, and view videos; founded in 2005.

Word of mouth advertising (WOM): the unpaid spread of a positive marketing message from person to person.

Blog: a contraction of weblog. A website on which an individual or group of users regularly records opinions or other information.

Facebook: a social networking website started in 2004. Originally designed for college students, it is now regularly used by businesses.

Google: brand name of the leading internet search engine.

LinkedIn: a business-oriented social networking site launched in May 2003.

Millennials: the demographic cohort following Generation X—sometimes called Generation Y. Born between 1980 and the mid-2000s, Millennials are the largest generation in the U.S., representing one-third of the total population in 2013.

Social bookmarking site: a website based on the interaction of “tagging” websites and searching through websites bookmarked by others.

Social media site: a website that provides both information and an opportunity for interaction.

In 1996, a group of industry experts set out to define a standard for color that could be applied across many types of printing devices. Of course, back then, there were both heat-set and cold-web presses as well as sheet fed. Devices such as color copiers, while early stage, were exploding onto the market. The result was the General Requirements for Applications in Commercial Offset Lithography, or GRACol, printing guidelines that have since become de facto standards in many pressrooms.

Whether a brochure, a catalog or a magazine ad, a GRACol workflow can standardize color appearance

Along the way, this working group defined G7, a method defined by the Print Properties and Colorimetrics Working Group of IDEAlliance. G7 specifies the components of an image that define a similar “visual appearance” to the human eye.

Initially, G7 was developed by the IDEAlliance GRACol Working Group. As adoption of G7 grew, it became clear that this method enabled printers to reproduce a similar visual appearance across printing types and substrates and should be addressed by a group

with reach beyond the focus on sheet-fed offset printing that is unique to the GRACol working group. Today, through the PPC Working Group, experts from across the spectrum of printing disciplines contribute to this important IDEAlliance methodology.

The G7 method:• Defines a color-metric definition for gray balance; and• Specifies gray balance in the mid-tones, image weight and

image contrast from the highlights to the shadows—factors that determine likeness of the visual appearance of an image.

With the color on press equipment more consistent, printers can decrease paper waste, make-ready time, and our environmental impact. The business of print has become more efficient with G7. Visions achieved G7 Master Printer status in 2010. For more information about G7 and how it can improve your color consistency, contact [RepFullName] at [RepPhone].

GRACol and G7: Standardizing Color Appearance

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6 Providing you an edge in print communications. www.visionsfirst.com

Every company or organization has an arsenal of marketing tools that share common characteristics: to introduce the company or organization to prospective customers; to describe the products and services offered and how they benefit the prospect; to show how your company or organization differs from the competition; and to create a favorable impression. Brochures, direct mail, a website, press releases and a newsletter are all examples of common marketing tools; of these, a newsletter has the added benefit of demonstrating your expertise and establishing you as an authority.

Readers expect marketing newsletters to be informative, easy to read, and to contain useful tips. This is the basis for establishing credibility in the mind of the reader, and inspires trust and understanding that is the basis of a business relationship. When distributed at trade shows, networking groups, meetings and seminars, newsletters lend their credibility to brochures and other marketing materials.

Newsletters are also a great way to establish regular contact with customers. The same helpful information and useful tips that prospects appreciate are also valued by customers. In addition, the newsletter reminds customers about your company or organization, and provides a way to announce coming events, activities, or new products and services.

Considering all the benefits of publishing a newsletter, it is surprising that so few businesses do so. This leads to another benefit: publishing a newsletter separates you from your competition.

Types of newslettersIn his book Do It Yourself Newsletters, designer Chuck Green delineates three types of newsletters:

• Promotional or marketing newsletters are sent free of charge to prospects and customers; it is intended to turn prospects into customers and customers into repeat customers.

• Relationship newsletters are published for members of an organization (such as a club, a church, or an alumni association) or for employees. Typically sent free of charge, they focus on the shared interests of the group.

• Expert newsletters are written on a specific topic and offered by subscription to those interested in the topic.

The content of each type of newsletter differs. Since a marketing newsletter is aimed at prospects and customers, it contains information of interest to businesses—explanations, tips and tricks, “how-to” articles, relevant industry trends, product and service information that translates features into benefits, and

Expand Your Marketing Outreach with a Newsletter

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answers the question “What’s in it for me?” Marketing newsletters may also contain coupons, special offers, and a call to action. Some mention company milestones (such as a significant business anniversary or an achievement award), but rarely include personal information about individuals who work for the company.

In contrast, relationship newsletters contain information about the company or organization, its internal environment, and its employees or members. For example, company or organization goals and plans, local, state or national business developments that have a bearing on the company or organization, community involvement; department or division news, financial results, career or job opportunities, benefits and other HR topics; staff changes and promotions, employee milestones (birthdays, marriages, anniversaries, births).

Publishing the newsletter: print or email?While the value of a newsletter is clear, the debate continues over whether it is best to publish a print version or use email. Both require a writer, a designer, and a mailing list—the similarity ends there.

Email newsletters can be inexpensively produced in full color and distributed at a fraction of the cost of a printed version—though they can also be blocked as spam or easily deleted without being opened. Email newsletters can also be configured to capture reader metrics: how many people have read the newsletter and who they are; which articles got the most hits, who clicked on links, who forwarded information. Past issues with key word search capability can be easily archived on a website for instant access.

Printed newsletters offer portability—they can be read anywhere and don’t require a computer. Someone who doesn’t have time to read a printed newsletter when it arrives can set it aside to be read later in the day or even at home. A printed newsletter better accommodates long articles or articles that contain a lot of information. Unlike an email newsletter whose display is a function of the recipient’s email program, a printed newsletter looks the same to everyone—color palette, typefaces, and graphics.

Assembling a mailing list for a printed newsletter is an easier task than assembling an email list—particularly if you want to include prospects. Whereas it is easy to obtain a mailing list of prospects that conform to a set of demographics, it is much harder to obtain comparable email addresses. By convention, email is considered permission-based marketing, meaning you must have the consent of the recipient to send the newsletter. A printed newsletter does not have this restriction.

The answer: use bothWhen you evaluate the pros and cons of printed and email newsletters, neither emerges as a clearly better choice. Each has its unique virtues, so it is a good idea to publish both. The email newsletter can be a shorter derivative of the print version, published more frequently (perhaps weekly, while the printed version is published monthly). Or, it can be used to alert readers to a special article or offer in the upcoming newsletter.

Post PDFs of past issues of the print newsletter on your company/organization website; include a way to sign up for both the printed and email version of the newsletter. When you use the power of both email and print newsletters together, you’ll be doubling up on one of the most powerful ways to build a relationship with your customers and prospects.

How often to publishThe choices for distribution of a newsletter are daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly and quarterly. The most popular cycle for a printed newsletter is monthly, as this gives sufficient time for writing, design, printing and mailing.

Remember this rule of thumb when deciding how often to publish: it takes between 500 and 600 words to fill an 8.5” x 11” page unless the page contains lots of graphics or photographs. Most adults write between 200 and 300 words per hour, so it will take between one and two hours to write enough copy for one page. A typical newsletter cycle would be one week for gathering information and generating copy; one week for design, layout, proofing and approval; one week for printing and mailing; one week for mail list maintenance.

In between the printed newsletter, use email or direct mail to send additional content based on the newsletter, or to generate more customer and prospect contact during key selling times, for renewal dates, seasonal activities or holiday.

Just send itNewsletters are a great way for businesses and organizations to keep in touch with their customers or members, and to reach out to prospects. Newsletters demonstrate the competence and expertise of the company or organization and build credibility.

If you want to begin using this powerful marketing tool, call us. We have many years of experience and can help you launch an effective newsletter. Contact [RepFullName] at [RepPhone].

New marketing tactics and technologies are essential in business today. Both large and small companies need to consider streamlining and automating the sales and marketing processes they use for lead generation, lead nurturing, and sales enablement. Statistics reveal the benefits of today’s marketing technology:• Businesses that use marketing automation to nurture

prospects experience a 451% increase in qualified leads. Source: The Anuitas Group

• Best-in-class companies achieved 31.6% year-over-year growth by integrating sales and marketing activities with technology. Source: Aberdeen Group

• Companies that automate lead management see a 10% or greater increase in revenue in 6-9 months. Source: Gartner Research

Visions can provide the right technology and programs to deliver solutions to your sales and marketing efforts. Let’s discuss the benefits today’s technology can provide to your organization. Contact [RepName] at [RepPhone] today for a consultation.

Winning New Customers 1-2

Tips & Tricks 3

Q & A 3

The Idea Corner 4

A Vocabulary of the Graphic Arts 4

Standardize Your Color 5

Expand Your Marketing Outreach 6-7

Marketing Automation 8

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